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Guilty plea made in Clifton slaying

A Grand Junction man faces up to 90 years in prison after he reversed course Monday and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of a man attending a child’s birthday party.

Michael Simpson, 24, pleaded guilty in the shooting death of Marco Ramon Acosta-Estrella, 50, and second-degree assault in connection with shots that wounded three other people at the party, including Jorge Hernandez, who attended the hearing.

The possible 90-year sentence, Hernandez said through an interpreter, is “adequate, because he did it,” Hernandez said after the hearing.

Simpson pleaded not guilty in late January to a first-degree murder charge in connection with Acosta-Estrella’s death on July 28.